1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a relay communication system that includes a plurality of relay servers capable of intercommunication, a plurality of client terminals, and LANs that connect the client terminals to the relay servers, and further relates to a relay server that is used in such a relay communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional art, remote maintenance systems that perform from a remote site, monitoring and maintenance of terminals of electronic equipment and the like installed in homes, offices, and the like, have come into practical use. A serviceperson of a maintenance firm uses a remote maintenance system to perform maintenance work on a terminal without going out to the installation location of the terminal.
In addition, in the conventional art, an image processing apparatus has been proposed that can, while confirming the content of a screen of a computer terminal that is connected via a prescribed network, remotely operate the computer terminal (See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-59083).
A remote operation system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-59083 is utilized between only the image processing apparatus and one computer terminal. Namely, in the remote operation disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-59083, the content of the remote operation is shared between only the terminal on the operation-performing side of the remote operation and the terminal on the operated-upon side of the remote operation, these terminals having a one-to-one relationship. Accordingly, in the conventional art, if the terminal on the operation-performing side is remotely operating the terminal on the operated-upon side, then, if some other terminal makes a demand to acquire the content of the remote operation, it is difficult to meet that demand.